The Airplane Seat With The Most Germs

Trending News: Here's Why You'll Never Choose The Aisle Seat Again

Why Is This Important?

Because sometimes, we all have to fly. It’s best to not get sick when doing so.

Long Story Short

Avoid aisle seats when flying — multiple studies have found that these seats contain more germs and bacteria due to other passengers using them for balance while moving through the aircraft.

Long Story

When flying, passengers are split when it comes to the ideal seat: Some (mostly those with strong bladders) feel that the window seat is prime real estate when it comes to views and sleep support. Others prefer the aisle for easy entry/exit and the de-facto extra legroom it offers (no one prefers the middle seats). In terms of germs, though, the window seats reign supreme: Studies have found (and confirmed) that aisle seats contain far more germs than any others.

First, a 2010 case study by the CDC examined an outbreak of norovirus (stomach bug) that caused a flight to be diverted three hours after takeoff. They came away with a couple of interesting findings: 1) the virus was likely transmitted during the flight, despite the short duration, and 2) sitting in an aisle seat actually made you more likely to contract the virus than sitting near an already sick person.

A follow up study by researchers at the University of Arizona only confirmed things: Swabs found that airplanes are veritable germ utopias, but the bathrooms, seatback magazines and aisle seat armrests are the worst offenders. The researchers say that just about all passengers use the aisle seats for balance and support when moving through the plane, depositing germs.

Of course, sitting in an aisle seat makes you more likely to come in contact with a sick person due to proximity. If you absolutely must touch things, use ample amounts of hand sanitizer.

The only upshot is that they found simply being on a plane with sick people isn’t particularly hazardous due to air circulation.

"Usually the air is not much of a problem because it doesn't go back and forth — it goes around and is filtered,"said UA researcher Chuck Gerba. "So when we've seen cases of influenza on airplanes, it’s usually only the person right next to them — to the front, the back, or to the side — that has to worry."

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Whose job is it to clean airplane surfaces, and why aren’t they being held accountable.

Disrupt Your Feed: I’m wearing one of those Michael Jackson masks next time I fly and I don’t even feel bad about it.